Thursday, 28 April 2011

Poster Editing



Like the magazine cover the program we used was Adobe Photoshop to create the poster. We chose to use this photograph as there was enough space to fit in all the information we needed to and Chloe's facial expression is really good and is what we aimed for when taking all the photographs. Also the way she is sitting and the view point makes he look weaker andwith the way she is looking up at the camera will make it clear that she looks wary and afraid. We then edited the photograph by inreasing the contrast to add definition and reduced the saturation to make Chloe look paler. This photograph is the first layer and then for the second layer we used this texture which I found on www.deviantart.com in the research and stock images section. I chose this texture because of the scratches, it gives the feeling of being trapped and also in theme with the horror, thriller genre.We then pasted this on top of the photograph and changed the opacity which let the photograph to be shown through the texture which is shown in the picture. After this we then added the text. Like the Gothika poster we placed Chloe's name at the top, with her name standing out itsuggests that she is a well known actress, we also put 'also featuring Mark Talor' by the title. It is good to mention the main actors/actresses because if they are known to the audience then they are more likely to view the film. 'No Escape' is also in 'Chiller' font as is the trailer and the magazine cover to create a well known brand. We also put in 'She though it was over' as a quote. This was also used in the trailer so it is a well known catchphrase for the film. Like the magazine we also added the glowing effect on the title of the film and also the quote by painting a white line behind the text and then changing the opacity to give a ghost like, faded effect. The picture below shows the completed poster.













Finished poster:


Thursday, 7 April 2011

Editing Magazine Cover

For both the magazine cover and the poster first we had to take some photographs of Chloe. I booked the photography studio which I accessed easily as I am also studying photography. The photographs turned out to be good, Beth took the photographs and we used some of our ideas to see what worked and what didn't. For the magazine we chose this photograph to the left becuase it has a simple composition and had plenty of space around her to add titles and headers. Then chose this background. As like the Empire magazine the background is very important and this one I felt represents the theme of the trailer well, with it being dark and having scratches also gives the feeling of being trapped. We then decided to add the title using the typing tool to the left hand side of our and by looking at past Empire magazine we placed the title on the left as shown in the picture to the left. After creating the title we added a glow around both chloe and the title to make them stand out against the bold background. We did this by using the paint tool then painting a white line around Chloe and the title in a new layer. We then changed the opacity which gave a glowing effect this is shown in the picture below. After we had created this effect we started adding the titles. When adding the Empire title we had to cut around Chloe's silohette and the copy to another layer and the make sure the layer with the Empire title on it was below it.







We then added some titles using the typing tool and changed the font on the headers to make them stand out. We also mentioned other films that are out and the special features that are measured in the magazine itself. While adding these we needed to consider the colour theme and we decided to go for red, white and black. Red is the main colour and also as the 'Empire' title is red all the others fit together well. There were also some standard text that we needed to include for example the price of the magazine, the month on which is published and the barcode.

This picture to the left shows our magazine cover almost finished, we have included clips from the trailer at the bottom of the cover which makes the cover look more clustered and interesting which is what Empire usually does. After we had done all this we realised that the titles of the film should also be in the font 'Chiller' as it is in both the trailer and the poster. So we changed that for our final product.






Finished Magazine Cover:




Editing Trailer


For the editing process we used the program Adobe Premiere Pro. I have had some experience in using this program before for AS level when I created an opening sequence with a group. I was given the role as editor so I know the basics of using Premiere Pro, for example cutting and adding audio on top of the video clips. When we had finished filming and had all the clips we needed we needed to import them on to the computer, this was quite a long process as we had to choose which clips we needed to import and which clips we could discard and would not be in the final trailer. Going through this process made it easier in the long run as we had seperate clips for each scene and this made it easier when arrangingthem in order by referring to the story boards. There were a few problems with some of the clips, one of them had people in the frame who were not meant to be there (the scene where Ella and her friends are walking by the beach) so we had to clip out the long shot and go straight into the shot where Ella is looking around her. After we had arranged the clips in order we had to find some suitable music to overlay on to the trailer. We are lucky to have the resources in the library and used these two CDs 'Mystery, Horror, Suspense' and 'Directors Cuts: Suspense' (shown below, click to expand). For our trailer we used track 13 from 'DC: Suspense' this track gave a bold and challenging feel to the trailer which is what we wanted to represent the danger that Ella was in. And we used track 42 from 'Mystery, Horror, Suspense' for the running scene which gives a really eerie feel to the scene. We also had to download sound effects for example the phoneringing which we found from http://www.freesfx.co.uk

When adding the tracks we had to import them using Windows Media Player, ripped them in to the music library and then imported them in to Adobe Premiere Pro. Once they were in Premiere
Pro we could drag the track to whereever we wanted and there are also different audio slots available which made it possible to add more tracks and sound effects when we needed to do so. After we had dragged these tracks on to the timeline we could adjust the length and also the volume at specific parts of the trailerThe picture above shows us changing the volume level by clicking on the yellow line holding Alt to create a small white diamond and this allowed us to adjust the level. Increasing the volume when Caroline speaks (as she has a quite voice) and then decreasing the volume afterwards. With this clip we also had issues with noise, as we were filming by the beach and the wind was strong which affected the mic. However to overcome this we used the effects 'DeCrackler' and 'DeNoiser' in the audio effects provided by Premiere Pro. The picture below shows us adding titles in to our trailer we went to Title, New Title, Default Still and then we could edit and create titles to insert into the trailer. With this tool we added a glowing effect which is in theme with the genre and we used the colour red to give the feel of danger. Throughout the trailer we used the font 'Chiller' which we also used for our magazine cover and poster. This is creating a brand for the trailer and the keeping
the font the same will make it recognisable to the audience.

For some of the transitions with used 'Cross Dissolve', 'Dip to Black' and 'Dip to White.' We used 'Cross Dissolve' for our flashback scene, this gave a soft transition which is almost dream like. For the 'Dip to Black' and 'Dip to White' we used for some of the other tr
ansistion in the trailer to creat an edgy and unstable feel. For example the running scene shown below we used 'Dip to White' to represent a change in time. Also the bright sunlight really helped with the continuity when using the 'Dip to White'


The editing process for the trailer I found was quite a bit different from last year when working on the opening sequence, it was very much time consuming and sometimes hard to get around how to do things, for example I have now learnt how to use the different effects that are provided by Premiere pro. Discussion was also very important when editing and Beth and I had to compromise on many things as well as put across our own individual ideas. After we had edited all the basics me and Beth went over the trailer a number of times to make sure everything was edited to how we wanted, this took quite a long time as we kept finding small things that could be improved.

Monday, 4 April 2011

Magazine and Poster Ideas

After researching a few magazine covers and a poster Beth and I have come up with a few ideas of our poster and magazine. Magazine Cover Looking at both Empire and Total Film covers the background seem to be quite plain and simple and this brings the actor/actress to the main attention of the audience. So when we photograph Chloe for our own cover we will use the photography studio at college and possible use a black background to keep the theme of these tow magazines. however we could use a white background and then edit the colour in Adobe Photoshop after the photographs have been taken. the photograph of Chloe really needs to give an insight to the character of Ella, by making her look weak and vulnerable so it shows her as the victim. To do this we can have her look into the camera so her eyes can connect with the audience and show her emotion really well. Like the Total Film cover the actor is close up to the camera and we could do this with Chloe to show her facial expressions better. We could also reduce the saturation or hue in Photoshop to make her look pale and this would give an over all frightening feel to the cover. Poster Posters often give indications to the storyline so we will do this in our own. One idea we had was to have Mark (playing as Ross) to be behind Chloe looking over her shoulder. The lighting would be minimalistic just lighting there faces. Their facial expressions would be a vital feature in creating the genre. Like in the Gothika poster the actress' eyes and facial expression was showing fear and when this was combined with the layout, editing and colour theme this gave the poster a chilling and frightening feel which is what we would like to achieve. Another idea is the we could have Chloe running away from the camera and looking over her shoulder so that it looks like she is running away from the stalker and also having her look back will give a connection to the audience as she is showing her facial expressions also have her face showing is vital for well known actress' as this is a promoting the film further for example you are more likely to watch a film if you recognise the actress and even more so if the are famous and well known. Another idea is to have Chloe hold a phone up to her ear, like in the trailer we have produced when Ella picks up the phone showing a close up of her face. We could do this in the studio easily and with the lighting we can create dramatic shadows and contrast. Again her facial expression will be very important to indicate the genre of the film.

Poster Research

Along with a magazine cover we also need to create a poster for our film. First we needed to do some research on posters so we can have a better ideas when creating our own and also have the knowledge on specific features in any poster. For research I focused on the film Gothika which we also researched for our trailer (click on the picture to expand). The film genre is similar to our own so this is a great film poster to research as the poster would have features to fit a thriller for example, font and colour themes. The photography and editing are specifically important in a poster as these will be at the main attention of the audience. Also along with all the editing and colour themes the audience automatically knows the genre of the film. This is important to know when creating our own poster as this is its purpose; to draw the audience in and promote the film in order for the film to be seen. In a poster unlike the magazine cover where there is a larger amount of detail the poster is simplistic and direct, only having a few key words for example the title, quotes which are drawing the audience, the date of release and the main featuring actress. These are the most important pieces of information to the audience to they are presented simply and easily. This is what we will acknowledge when creating our own trailer and this research has given us ideas on how to present our poster.

Magazine Research

As well as creating a trailer we also have to create a magazine cover for our created film. I have decided to look at both Empire magazine and Total Film magazine covers, these are both well known and show the big upcoming new films and advertise them to the best. The editing and layouts are designed around the main image and the film genre so when creating our own we will need to keep this in mind. Here are some annotated covers looking at layout, text, editing and photography that makes these covers successful.

This is my Empire magazine annotated research (click picture to expand.) Empire shows a variety of information about many films, including reviews, interviews, previews and news. All of these we will have to mention on our own cover to keep the 'Empire' theme. For my research I looked at things such as background and editing techniques and also the specific features which are involved in any magazine cover. Acknowledging these will help us when creating our own cover.


This my Total Film cover research (click picture to expand.) Again like my Empire cover researched I analysed the different features such as the background, photography and editing. It was good to use another magazine to research as I can now see the differences such as the colour themes and fonts which are created to relate to a different film. There are still the specific features such as the bar code and the title of the cover which are vital in any cover which I have acknowledged.